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Giving up on a contract before starting

Hi!

So I've been thinking this through many times over the weekend but wanted to gather opinions of people that can relate to my situation (i.e. contractors).

I accepted an offer for a contract some time ago. This is for a big bank so I knew I had to go through the pesky background checks. According to the way they planned things, and to the actual contract they sent out for me to sign, I was meant to have started last Monday. This would leave me with 2w not working. Because of the background checks not having completed, that didn't happen, which has made it to 3w not working so far. The actual background check process has been a pain and the company that's been handling it has been so useless and incompetent that I got totally annoyed with the whole thing.

Last week an internal recruiter (from the bank) called to explain he tried to make it possible for me to start sooner (w/o the checks completed) but it wasn't really feasible because the checks needed to be done. I told him I was annoyed by the whole thing and had started looking for something else as I couldn't wait around. I could see this made them worried but I didn't really care tbh, as I'm the one waiting (and losing time/money). In the meanwhile, a gig that I thought had died down came back and moved pretty quickly. I interviewed with them on Friday (and told them about my situation) and they liked me and offered me the role.

So this is where things get tricky for me. This "new" gig is way more interesting, professionally and economically, but now I need to drop out of the original one. I didn't sign any contract (because I was afraid the background checks would screw it up, as they did). My question is, is it bad that I drop out? What can I expect?

It sounds like the agency doing the PES checks might be Alexander Mann. If that's the case I've had the same experience with them. Had a bit of a dispute with them over it, then they tried (and failed) to get the hiring manager to withdraw their offer. They're generally worse than a man short and don't get any better. So if I were you I would take the second offer & don't feel bad about it. The bank (if it's the one I think it is) would have no hesitation in dropping you if they wanted to.

So I've been thinking this through many times over the weekend but wanted to gather opinions of people that can relate to my situation (i.e. contractors).

I accepted an offer for a contract some time ago. This is for a big bank so I knew I had to go through the pesky background checks. According to the way they planned things, and to the actual contract they sent out for me to sign, I was meant to have started last Monday. This would leave me with 2w not working. Because of the background checks not having completed, that didn't happen, which has made it to 3w not working so far. The actual background check process has been a pain and the company that's been handling it has been so useless and incompetent that I got totally annoyed with the whole thing.

Last week an internal recruiter (from the bank) called to explain he tried to make it possible for me to start sooner (w/o the checks completed) but it wasn't really feasible because the checks needed to be done. I told him I was annoyed by the whole thing and had started looking for something else as I couldn't wait around. I could see this made them worried but I didn't really care tbh, as I'm the one waiting (and losing time/money). In the meanwhile, a gig that I thought had died down came back and moved pretty quickly. I interviewed with them on Friday (and told them about my situation) and they liked me and offered me the role.

So this is where things get tricky for me. This "new" gig is way more interesting, professionally and economically, but now I need to drop out of the original one. I didn't sign any contract (because I was afraid the background checks would screw it up, as they did). My question is, is it bad that I drop out? What can I expect?

Thanks

Take the new gig but string along the bank until you've got in the door at the new place. Keep them as a back up in case it falls through.